


from here to eternity

by TheGlovedArtist



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Open Ending, Royalty AU, Supernatural/Afterlife Au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29361897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGlovedArtist/pseuds/TheGlovedArtist
Summary: Flowers danced beneath his steps as he made his way to the edge of creation. The inky depths of the barrier were fun to watch, its psychedelic patterns never failing to amuse him. Near the edge was a small, almost insignificant mailbox. Normally, the flag would be dutifully sticking up, waiting patiently for Osamu to arrive.This time he didn’t focus on the box, but on the confused-looking person beside it.Miya Osamu rules over purgatory with a weary crown; sometimes the key to moving forward is with the company of a lost soul.
Relationships: Miya Osamu/Suna Rintarou
Comments: 3
Kudos: 33
Collections: SunaOsa Valentine's Exchange





	from here to eternity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DeathBelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathBelle/gifts).



> Hello! This is my Sunaosa Exchange piece for [Kate](https://twitter.com/deathbelle_)!! Huge shoutout to Cal for beta reading this, you are a lifesaver ♥♥♥
> 
> Title adopted from [this song](https://open.spotify.com/track/0i6zDusUmJxmZEkKOlprdn?si=BH1QE-GySLKiAdwvDPqF3Q), but I basically wrote this entire fic with [this song](https://open.spotify.com/track/1exlfPaylHjW43AA11dEvB?si=uy4Z3N2uQ9agdXFL-W48iQ) on loop lmao.
> 
> I wrote this in basically a week cause I didn't like my first fic, so please be kind! With that being said, I hope y'all enjoy ♥

Osamu lived a thousand centuries worth of lives but did not remember the sensation of sunlight on his skin. All he knew, all he was surrounded by was the darkness of the world and the fear humans would try to hide with all their might. Most humans called it Hell; he called it home.

 _It’s not a fair comparison_ , he had first thought when his coronation remained fresh, the glamour of leading a nation still bright and light from its novelty. _There’s nothing here they haven’t already dealt with._ Hell was, in their own terms, a place where people were punished for their crimes in the mortal world. Here was nothing short of a darker, mirrored version of their world. With shadow creatures. And perpetual darkness. Maybe the occasional storm that would bring about minor ruin and despair. Again, nothing they haven’t faced in their own world.

But there was a beauty to it. Trees with care sewn in each darkened leaf. A sky that held no tether to a physical plane. The hope for a new beginning birthed from the home of time. No creature from Earth came there, but absence doesn’t foster monsters. Only fear.

Life was simple. Predictable, even. There wasn’t a dull moment in his world, but the same interesting sights always turn into the same sights, shedding their spark. But not all routines turned to chores.

Atsumu always sent letters at the beginning of the month. Neither could recall when exactly the tradition began, but it stuck. Osamu would send his own at the end of the month and patiently await his own to arrive. Their conversations were often mundane and colloquial – Atsumu had a habit of complaining about his angelic supervisor with silvery, black-tipped hair and a “radiant smile and oh god have you seen his _face_ -” – but it was nice to read something that didn’t have anything to do with his royal ruling. It made him almost miss him (not that he does, of course).

Today was like any other. 

Shadows crawled up the walls, anxious and impatient. “You are not fit to lead this kingdom,” they whispered. Their voices echoed in the throne room, their jeer slowly fading from the confines of the chamber into the outside world. Osamu blinked, then looked back at the scroll in his hand.

“Insulting me won’t change the fact that ya still gotta pay yer taxes.”

The shadows twisted around the columns supporting the room, writhing in irritation. “Taxes are…annoying.”

Osamu pinched the bridge of his nose and forced himself to remain civil. He won’t lose composure. _He won’t_. “The way the system functions is out of my control. If you have nothing more to say than petty complaints, kindly see yerself out.” He waved his hand and the doors swung open, hitting the wall with a satisfying flourish. “Now would be great, if ya don’t mind.”

They began to shuffle towards the exit, only to stop just before leaving. “You have more control than you think, Your Highness.”

Something shook inside him. A ghost of a memory. An idea long painted over. It brought back nostalgia and regret and the cloying taste of something he’d never had before. The words evaded him, but the emotions stuck to him like a reminder of what he had yet to understand.

Static crackled in the air. “ _Out._ ”

It wasn’t long before Osamu found himself alone in the room. Their words stuck inside him, nagging and insistent. He allowed himself to take deep breaths, calming down before presenting himself to a public that wouldn’t notice. It was a while before he felt ready to face whoever may need him, but he forced himself to continue forward. Still shaken, he tossed the scroll aside and exited the room to find Komori standing outside, waiting. “That was a long meeting.”

“I have no idea what yer talkin’ about.” He started walking away, keen on escaping any conversation with his second-in-command. “Don’t you have to be somewhere?”

Following one step behind him, Komori shrugged and flashed a _what-can-I-say_ smile, which meant nothing but trouble. “Kiyoomi didn’t need my help anymore.”

Osamu could tell he was keeping something from him, but he didn’t have the energy to deal with whatever the fuck their plan was. Some things were better kept out of his sight where he didn’t have to waste time worrying about it. “Yeah, okay. I _definitely_ believe that.”

“I will choose to ignore your blatant sarcasm to ask why you were so late from meeting with your subjects.” Komori stopped, planted in his place. “You’re never late.”

“It was a minute, Komori. I’m allowed to be imperfect, y’know.” It took him a second to realize he spoke to thin air and Osamu turned around to find Komori with his arms crossed and his stubby eyebrows furrowed in what seemed to be annoyance. Ah. He fucked up.

“You’re never late ‘cause you always leave early, stupid.” Komori’s eyes flit to the nearest window, the faintest beams of light shining through impenetrable darkness. There was no morning, nor a constrained sense of time, but the outside reminded him of gifts he could never imagine. “Something happened.”

“Yer overreacting.” Osamu turned and began to walk away. “It wasn’t anything important.”

Sensing the change in demeanour, Komori caught up with him wearing a laidback smile. “Speaking of important,” he started, fumbling with something from his satchel. “Something came up at the border and Iizuna wants you to check it out.”

Although he already knew what was waiting for him, something nagged him at the back of his mind. The way Komori’s tone shifted made him sound almost serious. “It’s probably the letter from ‘Tsumu. It’s no big deal.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Komori stopped at a cross-section between the path to the exit and a corridor leading further into the castle. “I’ve got to do some boring shit now, but I suggest heading out to the place now. It sounds urgent.”

Komori left before Osamu could entertain the thought of asking any more questions. Sighing, he turned around and walked towards the exit. Memories resurfaced without his permission. His first astral projection, the former lock on the door that never unlocked despite his endless efforts, the games he and Atsumu played before he left for the first and last time.

(He would tell himself that he did not cry. He may feed on sorrow and despair, but that didn’t make him a bad person. Monsters don’t cry, but deep down inside himself, he knew that he was a monster.)

Pushing all unnecessary thoughts aside, Osamu left the castle and made his way through the world. Everything was as it should be: organized chaos. Although he was not proud of modelling his world from humans, the idea of plumbing and electricity was an innovative enough idea to get it installed nearly everywhere.

It was hard to try to collapse the caste system that ran between dark beings and light beings. It was hard to do anything these days, corporate backlogging itself into ruin. It was times like Atsumu’s frantic “THIS PLACE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE, SEND HELP-” letters made him appreciate his home. It was small, but it was enough.

Flowers danced beneath his steps as he made his way to the edge of creation. The inky depths of the barrier were fun to watch, its psychedelic patterns never failing to amuse him. Near the edge was a small, almost insignificant mailbox. Normally, the flag would be dutifully sticking up, waiting patiently for Osamu to arrive.

This time he didn’t focus on the box, but on the confused-looking person beside it.

* * *

The stranger, dressed in black jeans and a t-shirt, introduced himself as Suna Rintarou.

“I have no idea why or how I got here,” he deadpanned. 

Osamu didn’t believe him. He also didn’t believe in his brother’s letter that tried to explain what was happening, only to further complicate the issue. Kita’s accompanying letter made matters clearer, but not by a lot.

“So…Suna…yer human?”

“Yep.”

“And you…got rejected from Up There?”

“…yep, think so.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Great. That’s fantastic news. It’s not like I don’t have enough on my plate already or anythin’ like that.”

Suna glared at him. “I didn’t ask to come here, y’know.”

Gears started turning in his head. Atsumu called him a “fucking menace to be around,” and Kita wrote, “He needs to be in a calmer environment with fewer stimuli to fully acclimate to the Hereafter”. Osamu glanced at him to find Suna pacing around, anxiety emanating from a copy of his mortal vessel.

“Hey…you good?”

Suna laughed mirthlessly. “Oh definitely, everything is peachy! I just died and I can’t even chill with the rest of my friends! I don’t even know where I am, but it looks a lot like Hell! This is great! I’m doing great!”

With each word, he got more riled up than the last until Osamu could feel his emotions as tangible tendrils choking himself. Without a second thought, he stepped forward and put his hand on Suna’s shoulder and absorbed the energy. It felt reinvigorating; it was a while since he tasted pure human fear. Suna stared at him, his jaw slack.

“What. What the _fuck_ did you just do.” There was no fear in his tone, only judgement. 

Osamu pulled his hand away and shrugged. “I feed on negative emotions.”

He expected yelling, screaming, maybe even Suna sprinting away from the scene. But all he did was raise an eyebrow. “Huh. That’s pretty sick.”

Osamu couldn’t help but smile at the statement, feeling oddly bashful. “C’mon, let me show you around. We don’t bite…usually.”

Suna snickered. “That’s reassuring.”

Leading him towards the castle, Osamu explained to him the four planes of existence. He explained Over There, Up There, Down There, and In-Between. He was surprisingly quick to catch on, accepting whatever Osamu said. It was comforting to know at least one thing was going smoothly.

“So, there’s no God?” Suna asked as they browsed one of the various guest rooms. The room, like all the others, had nothing inside except for a bed, dresser, and other knick-knacks for anyone’s knick-knack needs. 

Osamu gave him a vague hand gesture. “No one ever gets a straight answer, so it doesn’t matter, does it? Yer already dead anyways. What will God do, kill you again?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t blame the guy for having a vendetta against me.” Suna fiddled with a hairbrush, brushing the bristles on his arm, for some reason. Maybe it was a human thing; it wasn’t like Osamu would know. He barely paid attention to Human Anthropology. “I did say I’d fistfight him when I died.”

The imagery of Suna throwing hands at an omnipotent entity brought a smile to his face. “I’ll bring popcorn and a camera.”

“Thanks, appreciate that.”

Osamu took him to the kitchens, the gardens, the unused ballroom. Throughout the walk, they talked about anything and nothing, the conversation flowing naturally. It was nice to talk to someone about trivial matters that had no relevance in the grand scheme of things.

(“Why do you have a ballroom if you’re never going to use it?”

“For the aesthetic.”

“Oh, true.”)

They talked about science, religion, glassblowing, sports. Anything that came to mind would offer itself as food for thought until they reached the last room being shown to Suna.

“Wait, so there’s no Heaven or Hell?” Suna asked as he entered the room. It was different than the others they’d seen. It had its own bathroom and richer linens, making it feel more important than any other guestroom. It was closer to Osamu’s own room, but that was purely coincidental. There was a sitting area with two rich chairs and a table laden with cookies, reheating tea, and an assortment of snacks. Rocks and crystals were spread throughout the space, light refracting through the prisms. Suna moved towards an amethyst, his back facing Osamu.

“Depends on how you see it.” He gestured to the world and the world above them. “What do you think is going on?”

“I think that I’m not with the people I want to be with, so I want to move.” Suna turned to find Osamu slowly backing out of the room. “When do I leave?”

“Haha…about that. Not to rain on yer parade or anything, but yer on house-arrest for the time being.”

He could hear Suna yell obscenely before locking the door in front of him. He left before he could hear any more protests and potentially change his mind. Osamu needed to gain some level footing before allowing Suna to roam around the world, privy to beings less understanding of human conditions. He needed to consider all options before doing anything rash.

 _Locking him up was for the better_. Osamu repeated the phrase in his head, hoping that the repetition would turn into the truth.

* * *

Sakusa chewed on his onigiri slowly, mulling over everything he had just heard. He swallowed and said, “Your brother’s a moron.”

Any other time would have Osamu passionately agreeing and saying, “Right?? Imagine being related to him,” but the circumstances didn’t allow him to celebrate for long. “Yeah, I agree, but now what do I do? I have a random human on my hands, and I have no idea what to do with him.”

“You could send him back.” Sakusa took another bite, his head not quite in the conversation. “They can’t force you to take him back, can they? This isn’t a game of Hot Potato.”

Osamu grew irritated. The idea of treating Suna, _anyone_ , like a deferred package didn’t sit well with him. “He’s not a misplaced item, Sakusa. He’s a human being with a human soul who isn’t ready to be in Up There. I think Kita-san wanted him to get used to being dead by…being here.”

“In the In-Between?” His face scrunched up in confusion. “Yeah, the best place to get used to being dead is in purgatory where the sun doesn’t exist and it’s always cold. That’s a great idea.”

Osamu rubbed his hands against his thighs, the smooth feeling of velvet helping him remain at a calm, neutral level. Anything that reminded him of the past was pressed back in the very back of his mind. It was at times like these where he appreciated the uniform aesthetic of wearing different variations of the same robe; the familiarity of the cloth allowed him to clear his thoughts and rationally think through his dilemma. 

“Is there anywhere else to go?” Sakusa opened his mouth to answer and Osamu quickly added, “Without mentioning reincarnation.”

“You can’t keep him away from the option.”

“I can do whatever I want.” He snapped his fingers and turned the onigiri into a brick. “See? Now you have to eat a brick for lunch.”

Sakusa gave him an _are-you-serious-right-now_ stare while taking a bite of the brick, exposing an onigiri interior. “Your illusions are terrible, as always. You didn’t even get rid of the smell.”

“Oh, fuck off, I did better than anything you could do.”

“Maybe.” Sakusa put his food down and wiped his fingers with a napkin. A shiver ran down Osamu’s spine at the sight; he knew Sakusa was getting serious. “Now what are you going to do with the human?”

“His name’s Suna.”

Sakusa waved away the words. “I don’t need to know his name; I need to know your course of action. This isn’t exactly the best situation to be in, especially after-”

“ _Okay_ , yes, I get it.” A headache started brewing in the back of his mind. “I…don’t know what to do. I can’t return him, and I can’t let him roam around this world.”

“And what’s stopping you from introducing reincarnation?”

He considered their interactions and the emotions left sitting underneath the surface. “He’s not ready for it.”

It looked like Sakusa wanted to say something, but he held his tongue at the tone of finality in Osamu’s words. “Alright then. What you’re left with is allowing him to explore the castle.”

If Osamu was expecting anything, it wasn’t that. “What?”

“Think about it. You can’t let him go free, and you can’t force him back to Up There.” Sakusa raised a finger with each point. “All you’re left with is extending his domain to this castle.”

“That doesn’t help the situation.”

“It gives you a bit of control over it though.” He resumed his lunch, this time taking out a drink to wash down the rice. “And judging from your other options, this one’s the best you got.”

Osamu let the thought roll around in his mind. It felt better than locking him in a room, but it still didn’t feel safe.

“I’ll talk to Komori about raising security,” Sakusa said as if reading his mind. “We’ll make sure he’s not absorbed by guards or anything like that. I’m sure he can whip up a pamphlet in no time.”

Somehow, everything felt like a joke. “A pamphlet? The fuck’s a pamphlet gonna do?”

“Don’t underestimate its power. It can be the difference between life and death.”

The urge to throw his onigiri (that he somehow hadn’t finished yet) at the wall grew exponentially. “I’m serious about this.”

Sakusa’s eyes sharpened. “And _I’m_ serious about pamphlets. He’ll be safe; I promise.”

He felt comforted, but only just. Promises made in the Over There held a significance life could not replicate, but the aftermaths of a broken one were just as painful. Osamu left Sakusa to finish his meal in his preferred silence, missing the sight of Sakusa pulling out paperwork from his bag, and made his way to the security room. He had some changes to make.

* * *

Osamu thought locking Suna in his room was going to be difficult. As always, the universe derived pleasure from proving him wrong in the most inconvenient way possible.

“Fuck off.”

“I said I was sorry, can ya please let me in?”

“No. I’m going to stay in this room and wait for the cold clammy hands of death to take my soul to a better place than here.”

“Yer already dead.”

“…oh yeah.”

He knew he could easily open the door. He knew that with a flick of a hand, it would swing open and he could enter as he’d like to. But, deep down, he knew that was not how things worked.

“Suna, please. I’m only here to help.”

The sarcasm in his tone leeched from beyond the door. “By locking me in my room like I’m a teenager? Yeah, that helped me _so much_ , thanks for that.”

He felt a flicker of annoyance in his chest, but he tamped that down quickly. Escalating matters would only worsen things.

Feeling something akin to defeat, Osamu leaned on the door and slumped onto the floor. The ground was smooth and cool to the touch, made from the darkness within hidden spaces from the Over There. Common, but fundamental. He took a deep breath, considering his next words carefully.

“I’m not asking ya to forgive me. In all honesty, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I were in yer shoes. All I’m asking is for a second chance to make things better for ya.” He fiddled with the gold-lined ring on his right hand, the symbol of a fox staring at him with an intense gaze. “All I want to do is help you.”

Sounds of shuffling came from the other side. When Suna spoke, the voice was much closer, much quieter than before. “How do I know I can trust you?”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “I haven’t done much to earn yer trust, have I.” The ring on his finger glinted and Osamu could almost hear his brother’s annoying trill. He didn’t think as he slid it off his finger and pushed it underneath the door. “Take this ring. It…means more to me than anything I will ever own. Until you trust me again, keep it with you.”

There was a pause. “So, you’re basically giving me leverage over you.”

The gnawing feeling of wanting to snatch the ring back and to find a different way to earn trust burned inside him. “Yes, I am.”

Before he could form another thought, the door swung open. He fell on his back and, through the misty haze of dull pain, he heard Suna laugh. “I fucking knew you were leaning on the door,” he said with a grin.

Osamu felt confused. “I thought ya didn’t trust me?”

“Oh, I still don’t.” He held up his right hand to show the ring, snug on his ring finger. “But you didn’t even try to open the door, even though it was unlocked the whole time. If you really wanted to hurt me, you could’ve done so. Pretty easily, to be honest.” He shrugged as if he were explaining the solution to a murder-mystery game. “But you didn’t. I, at the very least, now know that you’re not gonna try to kill me. Not immediately, at least.”

He couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t embarrassed, but a part of him was also relieved. One step towards trust was one step towards a future he wasn’t quite sure would play out.

“Before you say anything,” Suna started, leaving Osamu behind on the floor to sit on a plush, velvet chair, “can you explain to me why I couldn’t leave even though the door was unlocked? The only time I was able to get the door open was when you wanted to come in.”

Still slightly sore, Osamu picked himself up and went to the chair across from him. “I control everything here,” he replied nonchalantly. “From the lakes to the sky, everything bends to my will.” He considered his words, then corrected, “Most things, anyway. Manipulating reality is real tricky. Turns out, most things don’t like being told what to do.”

Suna blinked twice. Visible confusion settled on his face. “If you can do all that, why didn’t you bust down the doors?”

Osamu offered a rueful smile. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“But if you can do _anything-_ ”

“Yer misunderstanding.” He leaned forward, resting his chin on his propped-up hands. “I made the decision for me to enter by your hand. I wasn’t limited by my powers. It’s hard to trust someone who forces themselves into yer life, y’know?”

“Well, when you put it like that, I guess it makes sense.” Suna picked a chocolate chip cookie from the table and nibbled on the edge. “You never said why you came here.”

“I want to help you.”

“Alright then.” Suna took a bite from a side with a large chocolate chip chunk. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“Right.” Osamu eyed the candies but restrained himself. Professionals didn’t eat on the job, no matter how tantalizing the temptations were. “I’ve decided to extend yer house arrest from yer room the entirety of the castle.”

A beat passed. Suna looked like he was deciding whether to laugh or run while the door was still open. “And that’s supposed to help me, how…?”

“We don’t know why yer here. Don’t give me that look,” he said when Suna raised an eyebrow at his words, “ya said it yerself. You don’t know how or why you came here. So, until I’ve got that figured out, ya can go wherever ya want, as long as it’s within the castle grounds.”

“Uh-huh. And what if I refuse?”

“Well, yer free to stay in yer room for as long as you’d like. I’m not gonna force ya to do anything ya don’t want to do.”

Osamu poured himself a cup of tea. The sweet aroma of peppermint was wispy against the increasingly charged air. He silently offered to pour Suna a cup, to which he was declined.

“What if I want to go outside?”

He took a small sip of his tea. It was hot, but not too hot. “I personally would advise against being absorbed by the townsfolk.”

Suna blanched, setting the cookie back down on the tray. “Absorbed?”

“Human souls are very rich and filled with pure energy. Ya can’t really find that anywhere without paying a hefty sum, so I wouldn’t put it past someone if they consumed your essence. The people living here aren’t that well off, to say the least.” Osamu eyed the candies once more, his hunger unsatiated by the tea. 

“I thought you said I couldn’t die considering that I’m, you know, already dead and all.”

“Well, you’ll maintain your conscience for sure. But a transfer of energy to that degree will have major consequences.”

Gripping the edge of the seat, Suna grit out, “What kind of consequences?”

There was no point sugar-coating the truth. “You’ll become a part of the person who ‘ate’ ya.”

A silence hung between them. It was heavy and bordering uncomfortable; Osamu could feel his fear even from their distance. He took a piece of candy and popped it in his mouth for a distraction from its allure. Negative emotions had never put him off until this moment, where he couldn’t feed on it without breaching something unspoken. The first time was almost necessary, but a second time wouldn’t bode as well. 

Suna pursed his lips in thought. After a while, he said, “Are you sure this place isn’t Hell?”

Osamu couldn’t help but laugh at the admission. “Hell doesn’t exist. We don’t have a place designated to torture souls, but to teach and reform them. Sure, Under There gets super hot at times, but that’s normal, isn’t it? But In-Between isn’t designed for humans, so I suppose it fits your human definition of Hell.” The candy melted and he smiled. “I’m going to keep ya safe, okay? It’ll be annoying, but I really do need ya to stay here until I figure everything out, okay?”

There was no response. Knowing there wasn’t anything else left to say, Osamu got up from his seat and headed to the door.

“Wait.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to find Suna standing with clasped hands pressed against his lips. “I’ll do the thing. The extended house arrest, or whatever.”

Relief sparked in his chest. “That’s good to hear, Suna. Once I’ve updated my staff, I’ll let ya go wherever ya want, granted there are some restrictions.”

“Course there is. What kind of castle would this be if there weren’t any secrets?” Suna said as he played with the ring on his finger, twisting it around in circles. 

Osamu smiled, nodded, and left without another word, his chest both light and weighted at the same time.

* * *

Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but Osamu soon learned that so did gardening. Especially if the second party was having a bad time.

“I hate dirt,” Suna whined as he dug another hole in the ground. “Why am I doing this again?”

“’Cause staying inside for too long is unhealthy.”

Suna grumbled as he stabbed the ground. “I’m already dead, so why does it even matter?”

“Going crazy in the Over There can be helped. It’s, uh…more difficult here.”

Furrowing his brow in thought, Suna thought it through. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Despite the obvious lack of sunlight, Osamu managed to snag a dozen of nearly self-sustaining flora-replicating organisms that didn’t need much care to survive. With a dark colour palette, they perfectly captured the concept of purgatory in one’s backyard. The multiple thistles helped too. Here it was easy to forget the responsibilities of the people for the sake of a few plants. Here, he felt safe.

Osamu glanced at Suna to see him cursing to himself as he tried to maneuver a medium-sized bush into his poorly dug hole. It was amusing to watch him struggle, sweat pooling at his brow.

“Ya gotta dig deeper. It ain’t goin’ in at the rate yer goin’ at.”

Suna turned to look at him, venom oozing from his glare. “Couldn’t you make the hole bigger yourself? I thought you could do anything.”

“Mmm, yeah, I can do that, but it’s funnier if you do it,” Osamu replied with a smile. He snapped his fingers and, in a second, two lemonades with curly straws and umbrellas appeared on a nearby table. “I did get you a drink though.”

“ _Ooo look at me, I’m Osamu and I got ya a drink, I’m such a great person!_ ” Suna mimicked as he took off his gloves, promptly giving up on his gardening endeavour. He took a seat at the table and sighed, leaning into it. “You’re a jerk,” he said as he took a sip from the lemonade. He gave nothing more than a small eyebrow twitch, but by then Osamu knew him well enough to know that he was satisfied with the concoction.

“So, I’ve been told.” Osamu joined him at the table and looked at the large expanse of his garden. It felt good to see the product of his persistence, his work without using magic. Or whatever gave him abilities. He lived long enough to know not to ask too many questions about things that didn’t concern him. “Though it’s usually at the expense of my dignity.”

Suna winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Nah, yer good. I know what you meant.” He smiled to himself, tapping the rim of his glass. “It’s nice to have someone not fear you all the time.”

“Usually, I’d say ‘I get what you mean’ but I’m not a demon overlord, so I have no idea what that feels like.” A beat passed. “In all honesty, I don’t remember my past life at all. Is that normal?”

Osamu took a deep breath. He knew that this conversation would turn up at some point, but he didn’t think it would happen so soon. “That’s fairly common in humans. Yer memories don’t come with you when ya transition realms, so any fragments that do pass always fade.” He reached out and felt the wind flit through his fingers. “The culmination of the residual human memory makes our weather though, so that’s a plus.”

It took a moment for Suna to register the information. “Wait, _what_? How is that even possible?”

He shrugged. “I dunno, that’s just how it works.”

“That makes zero sense.”

“Just ‘cause ya don’t understand something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

They sat in silence and Osamu vaguely wondered what kind of memory was now giving them a light breeze. It must’ve been nice, like a family picnic. Or perhaps even the memory of waking up and knowing that life was not a burden. He always found himself enjoying the memories of small moments, rather than the big ones; they stuck to him better.

“Is that why there’s no sun?” Suna asked, breaking the silence. He almost sounded sad.

Osamu couldn’t bring himself to lie. “That, uh…that’s kinda my fault.”

A beat passed. Two. Three.

Osamu was about to repeat himself when Suna laughed. It was loud and hysterical and unlike anything he had ever heard before from anyone, let alone Suna himself. “Yeah, right, okay. I’ll believe you blew up the sun. That _definitely_ happened.” When Osamu said nothing, something cold and suffocating seeped into the air. “You didn’t actually blow up the sun, did you?”

“No, I didn’t.” Suna let out a breath of relief. “But I did make it go away.”

Suna gave him a mildly bewildered look before remembering that Osamu was still the dude who could do anything. To his credit, he didn’t push for more details, most likely sensing the heaviness of the story. 

Osamu glanced at the fox ring wrapped around Suna’s finger, snug and warm and clean from dirt. “I was young when it happened. I dunno if you’ll remember the period, but it was maybe around the Mesozoic Era? If I’m using human terms correctly.”

Suna nodded and said nothing else, playing with the straw in his drink. Taking a deep breath, Osamu continued.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but it was on the last day I saw my brother.” The memory of exchanged secrets with smiles and the playfulness of youth weighed heavy in his chest. “He’s my older twin and a stupid, arrogant prick with no social skills whatsoever. I would always come up with these pranks and he would go through with them since I was too scared of getting in trouble. Everyone was strict with us, but it didn’t matter if we had each other, y’know? We were invincible.

But he started changing, sometime before he left. He was studying instead of tryin’ to do something dumb, like lighting a fire underwater. He stopped trying to play and read more books. And with each passing day, he started pulling away.”

Osamu could feel himself grow angry at the memory, of his own stupidness, of his own failure. He could feel himself walking towards an edge he had so desperately tried to escape. 

“Hey.”

He opened his eyes he didn’t know he closed to see Suna inch his seat closer to hold his hand. It was warm against his, reminiscent of the mortal realm. It wasn’t until he realized he had wanted someone to hold him for so long that the tears slipped through, a reminder of pain left unchecked. It hurt, but it finally felt like letting go.

“If you’re up to it, go on. I’m right here.”

Nodding, Osamu closed his eyes. He focused on the breeze, his breathing, the hand holding his own. He felt something return and, although the tears didn’t stop, the anger did.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but ‘Tsumu was getting ready to leave. Up There wanted to take him in and teach him the ropes, since he ‘passed the aptitude’ test or whatever the fuck. It’s bullshit. They’re bullshit. They didn’t have to take him away just ‘cause he’s selfless and always thinks of others and is caring and-”

Suna lightly squeezed his hand and Osamu stopped speaking. “Sorry, I was rambling.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled and Osamu felt himself grow comforted. It was familiar, but the thrum of his heartbeat wasn’t. He ignored it and moved forward.

“On the day he left, he gave me a box and made me promise to not open it until after dinner. I wanted to open it the second he left the room, but I couldn’t break a promise to him. Not ever. We played, we fought, we laughed, and he pretended everything was fine. He gave me one hug, told me that I was strong, and then left saying he had to go do an errand.” 

Betrayal burned his throat. “I never saw him again after that. When I found out he left, I just. Lost it. I almost burned this world to the ground if I hadn’t stormed into my room to find the box sitting on my desk. I wanted to chuck it out the window, turn it to ash, storm after my brother only to throw it at his face, but I didn’t. I opened it to find a ring.”

Suna said nothing, but Osamu knew he glanced at the one on his hand now. “Yeah, that’s the one. I took one look at that and just…shut down. I completely stopped feeling things. Emotions, touch, it all washed away in this numbness I couldn’t control. And before I knew it, the sun blinked out of the sky. 

Even after I got over it and grew past it, the sun didn’t return. Nothing worked. I tried willing I back, summoning it back, anything at all. But they all failed, and at one point I stopped trying.” He laughed humourlessly, unable to hold back his hopelessness. “I guess that’s why no one wants me to rule this realm. I can’t even fix something I did as a kid.”

“Hey, you did your best. You can’t beat yourself over that.” Suna rubbed circles into the back of his hand, slow and soothing. “You did what you could in the situation.”

“Yeah, and look how that turned out.” He looked at the garden, the plants adapted to the perpetual darkness. “I ruined everything.”

A silence followed. Osamu looked at Suna to find him wearing a serious, calculated expression. “Suna…?”

“I think I know why your attempts didn’t work.”

The urge to laugh hysterically came and passed. “Don’t try to give me false hope-”

“No, hear me out.” He brushed Osamu’s cheek and caught a single tear. “You didn’t get over it; you repressed it. I think the disappearance of the sun doesn’t have anything to do with your powers, but with your grief.”

He bit his lip, mulling over his words. They made sense, but if his theory was true, then-

“I can bring it back.”

Suna smiled. “With time, patience, and maybe some therapy. Does this place have therapists?”

More tears fell, but he laughed and felt some of the pain slip into the wind. “Believe it or not, purgatory has _free_ therapy. No exchanging food or goods or anything like that.”

Gesturing passionately, Suna said, “I still can’t believe this place doesn’t run on money.”

“Yeah, you humans are weird for putting value in something that doesn’t even matter. Y’all are crazy.”

Suna smirked. “So, I’ve been told.”

The air cleared. Osamu wiped away his tears and felt something he hadn’t felt in a while: content. “Sob story aside, do ya have any other ideas as to bring the sun back?”

Humming, Suna tapped his chin in thought. “We’d probably have to do a shit ton of research, since you’ll probably have to use a lot of your power, and I think we may have to-”

“Wait, hold up.” Something chirped in from the back of his mind, a reminder of the future. “What d’ya mean ‘we’? Yer leaving soon, aren’t ya? You look like yer ready to go to Up There.”

“Right…about that…” Suna scratched the nape of his neck. “I don’t think I want to leave?”

Osamu gaped at him. “Ya know this place is full of creatures who-”

“-won’t hesitate to eat me, yadda yadda yadda, I know. You told me before.” Osamu watched Suna grasp for words stuck on his tongue, refusing to move. “I just…I don’t want to leave. Not yet. I want to stay and help you bring the sun back.”

“But what will you do if we bring it back?”

Suna twisted the ring off his finger and slid it towards him. “I guess I’ll relearn what sunlight feels like.”

Reality shifted inside of him as he stared at the ring. He looked at Suna, then at the ring, then back at Suna. Anything he wanted to say stayed a tangled mess in the branches of his lungs. Slowly, he took the ring back and slipped it back onto his index finger. 

Words that were meant to stay within the confines of his heart escaped into the open. “Promise to stay by my side.”

He expected a long, tense silence. Rejection. Maybe if he was hopeful, contemplation. But Suna took back his hand. “Always.”

A moment later, an explosion could be heard from the castle. They whipped their heads to the source of the sound to find Sakusa and Komori arguing in the distance, along with a contraption that seemed to have caught fire. Osamu felt irritated knowing a special moment was broken, but Suna stood and tugged Osamu up. “C’mon, looks like you got some damage control to do.”

He laced his fingers with Suna’s. “Together?”

The promise of a new, bright future found itself alive in the company of a soul he hadn’t known he wanted but needed all along. Suna squeezed his hand and couldn’t hide the warmth in his eyes.

“Together.”

**Author's Note:**

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